Another belt for Jess after blistering battle
Jess Barry proudly displays her belts after last night’s victory
THE future is blindingly bright for Jess Barry and a British title shot surely beckons after her blistering 10 round victory over Linzi Buczynskyj.
But the Coventry Banshee was made to scrap for every second of every session – and even endured the first knockdown of her eight fight career.
Points victory at Cannock’s Excelsior Club last night (Thursday) earned the English featherweight champ another belt – the Commonwealth silver strap. Her English crown was on the line, too.
It also pushed Jess towards bigger honours. And in the women’s game, fighters can dream grand dreams in a short space of time.
With Barry McGuigan watching at ringside on promoter Scott Murray’s super St Patrick’s show, the women served-up an epic tussle.
Bolton’s Buczynskyj made Barry dredge the very pit of her fighting desire. The 36-year-old gave her the first real acid test.
The scores for 30-year-old Jess suggest – on two cards, anyway - a fairly comfortable night’s work. Chris Dean had it a wide 97-92, Terry O’Connor 96-94, Kevin Parker 95-94.
It was about as comfortable as a stroll through a minefield, with Barry’s stamina down the stretch sealing success.
Jess, perhaps burdened by big occasion nerves, began the championship battle like the proverbial bull in a China shop – and paid the price.
In the opening seconds, she was caught while rushing in and hit the deck, more off balance than hurt.
Barry scrambled to her feet and for the first three rounds both engaged in savage trench warfare. Both took stinging right hands.
My notes state: “Too frantic.” It was: Barry needed to settle down and pick her shots. She began to forge ahead from the fifth, stamped her authority in the middle rounds and finished like a steam train. She connected solidly to head and body as Buczynskyj tired.
It is a significant win that had its foundations in the champ’s engine and endeavour, fitness more than finesse. Manager Jon Pegg will, I’m sure, have noted his boxer’s vulnerability to rights.
Barry with proud husband Paddy Hone
Derek Fitzpatrick, Jess’ close friend and former trainer who sat next to me during the action, pointed to the positives. “It was a good win for me because she ticked a lot of boxes, the most important being she got put down and came out on top.”
One well-known fight figure put it more bluntly. “She did what Mike Tyson couldn’t,” he said. “She got off the floor to win.”
“Linzi made me work very hard, but I also felt I made it hard work for myself,” Barry said afterwards.
“I was too focused and not relaxed. I didn’t feel like I was switched on in there, it all got to me in there. I was too frantic and I don’t do that in sparring. I just got stuck in.”
Of the knockdown, she said: “I didn’t feel anything and the next thing I knew I was on the floor. I got caught off balance.”
Barry, scheduled to fight in Toulouse next month, cannot be too far away from a slot on a nationally televised arena show. And she’s prepared to slim down to super-bantam to secure star billing.
She added: “I’m fighting in France in April at feather, but I aim to start making my journey down to super-bantam. That’s my plan, but we’ll take the right fights at whatever division they come.”
Barry paid tribute to Buczynskyj – a warrior who gave her no breathing space.
“Her record does not do her justice,” she added. “I knew what she’d bring to the table, I knew it would be a really tough test, but she brought more than I expected.”
Both scaled 9stone.